Duterte urged to stop 'grovelling to China' over reef dispute

Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte risks making his country "another one of China's satellites" with his silence over Beijing's incursion in the South China Sea.

Philippines Opposition Senator Leila de Lima said that Mr Duterte should be taking a tougher stance on the hundreds of Chinese coastguard and fishing ships which have entered Manila's exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.

While Filipino diplomatic officials have requested Beijing to withdraw its vessels from the region, Mr Duterte has remained silent on the issue.

READ MORE: Philippines sends warplanes over stubborn Chinese flotilla in South China Sea reef

Ms de Lima said the president and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) should "stop grovelling before China".

"While everyone in the world, including China's own generals, are warning (President) Xi Jinping that he is overstretching in confronting the US and the Philippines in the South China Sea, Taiwan in the Straits, and Japan in the East China Sea, all at the same time and without any ally or friend whatsoever (except Duterte), the AFP still thinks it is worth it to continue to support Duterte's policy of grovelling before China."

Since Mr Duterte was elected president in 2016, he has tried to build closer ties with China.

But Ms de Lima said he should follow the lead of other Pacific nations, including Australia, in deploying military forces to the South China Sea to send a clear message to Beijing.

"And that message is simply this: they will not allow China to invade Taiwan or take control of the South China Sea. That simply will never happen,"

Hundreds of Chinese vessels, which the Philippines claim are linked to China's navy, have been moored inside Manila's 320-kilometre exclusive zone since last month.

READ MORE: Taiwan will fight 'to the very last day' if China attacks

The Whitsun Reef, which is part of the Spratly Islands archipelago, is claimed by both governments.

The Philippines maintains that it falls inside the country's exclusive economic zone.

A 2016 ruling by a United Nations tribunal dismissed China's claim to virtually all of the South China Sea, though Beijing has refused to recognise the decision.

China has been accused of using its vast fishing fleets to help assert Beijing's territorial claims throughout the 2.1 million square kilometre South China Sea, though China has dismissed the accusations as groundless.